Folding door aligning bracket



y 1957 E. JOHNSON, JR

FOLDING DOOR ALIGNING BRACKET Filed Aug. 2, 1965 A TTORNE Y.

United States Patent 3,329,990 FOLDING DOOR ALIGNING BRACKET Leonard E. Johnson, Jr., P.0. Box 114, Elkhart, Ind. 46514 Filed Aug. 2, 1965, Ser. No. 476,490 4 Claims. (Cl. 161) The present invention relates generally to aligning means for folding doors and more particularly to aligning brackets mountable on opposed folding door panels for aligning the lower portion of the panels when the doors are closed.

Folding doors commonly have a panel hinged or pivotally mounted along one edge adjacent a door jamb and an adjacent panel hinged to the other edge with the free or Unhinged edge of the adjacent panel being guided and suspended by a hanger secured to the top of the door and mounted in an overhead track. Frequently the lower portion of the door panels fail to align or close properly due to warpage or improper mounting of hinges or pivots.

It has been proposed to mount brackets on the floor to engage and force the lower portion of the free panels into proper aligned position when the door is closed. Such brackets, of course, are an impediment to travel through the doorway and are unsightly when the doors are opened. It has also'been proposed to mount brackets on the backs of the free panels near the bottom thereof to urge the panels into alignment. These prior brackets have had a range of accommodation which in many cases is too limited to meet the requirements commonly encountered, and indeed in some cases have prevented the doors from closing, particularly when the doors are warped or misaligned in a direction to cause the free panels to assume a slightly over-closed position wherein adjacent free edges form the vertex of a reflex angle with respect to a plane through the door pivots when the doors are moved to their closed position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved aligning bracket having accommodation for a predetermined over-closing of the doors without forcing the doors open.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved aligning bracket for aligning adjacent free panels of a folding door which accommodates a relatively wide range of misalignment and which is relatively simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and reliable in operation.

These and other objects and advantages of :the invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the appended drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of a folding door installation embodying aligning brackets of the present invention,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of one of the aligning brackets shown in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary View showing the aligning brackets of FIGURE 2 with the doors in partially closed position, and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 showing the doors in a slightly over-closed position.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGURE 1, numeral designates a doorway having door jambs 12 and 14 and a header 16 :to which is secured an overhead track 18. A folding door 20 is illustrated as having four panels 22, 24, 26 and 28 with the outer panels 22 and 28 being pivotally mounted in the doorway 10 by top pivots 30 and 32 and bottom pivots 34 and 36 respectively. A preferred construction for the pivots is 3,329,990 Patented July 11, 1967 "Ice shown in detail in my patent application U.S. Ser. No. 288,256, filed July 17, 1963. The inner, adjacent panels 24 and 26 are hinged to the outer panels 22 and 28 respectively by hinges 38 which may be of the type shown in my US. Patent No. 3,177,519, issued Apr. 13, 1965. The adjacent panels 24 and 26 are suspended and guided by hangers 40 and 42 mounted in overhead track 18 and secured respectively to the top of panels 24 and 26 adjacent the free or unhinged edges 44 and 46 thereof. A pair of door aligners 48 and 50 are oppositely mounted adjacent free edges 44 and 46 on the lower portion of panels 24 and 26 respectively.

Door aligners 48 and 50 are identical so that a description of one will suffice for both. Referring now to FIG- URE 3, door aligner 48 is preferably molded of nylon and has a base member 52 which on one edge 54 is formed with a raised ridge or portion 56 from which a tapered surface 58 extends with decreasing height to the opposite edge 60 of the base member. A flange 62 depends from edge 54 and as will be explained later is useful in properly locating the aligner on a panel. An arm 64 extends angularly from base member 52 in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said base member. Arm 64 is provided with a step having a side 66 extending vertically a predetermined distance and a side 68 extending at a right angle to side 66 in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the base member a predetermined distance to a shoulder 70. Side '68 constitutes a first abutment surface adapted to engage the raised ridge 56 of the oppositely mounted aligner 50, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. Extending angularly from shoulder 70 is a second abutment surface 72 formed on arm 64 which is also adapted to engage the raised ridge 56 on the oppositely mounted aligner 50. The base member 52 is provided with a pair of holes 74 which are adapted to receive screws 76 for securing the aligner to the door panel as shown in FIG- URES 4 and 5.

In operation, as the door 20 is closed, the adjacent panels 24 and 26 approach each other in a manner to bring the second abutment surface 72 of an aligner into engagement with the raised ridge 56 of the oppositely mounted aligner whereupon further closing movement of the door causes the ridges 56 to follow the angle of the second abutment surfaces 72 until the ridges pass shoulders 70 and are engaged by first abutment surfaces 68 which force the doors into the substantial alignment in the fully closed position. The raised ridge 56 and tapered surface 58 permit the doors to over-close a predetermined amount without forcing the doors open, as shown in FIGURE 5.

The length of first abutment surface 68 is determined as a function of the thickness of the door panels 24, 26 and the amount of accommodation desired for a gap between the door panels whereas the length and angle of the second abutment surface 72 is a function of door thickness and the amount of desired accommodation for misalignment. The height of raised ridge 56 is determined by the amount of desired overclose accommodation. The depending flanges 62 engage the free edges 44 and 46 to properly locate the aligners on the panels 24 and 26.

The molded, one piece construction of the aligner makes it relatively inexpensive to manufacture. The aligners accommodate two degrees of misalignment enhancing door closing and alignment in both cases without causing the doors to spring open. The aligners remain effective even though the door panels should become separated by a gap.

Although only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A pair of door aligners for folding doors adapted to be oppositely mounted adjacent the unhinged edges of adjacent door panels to align the panels when the doors are closed, comprising: a base member for each aligner, a raised ridge formed on one edge of said member, a flange depending from said one edge of said member adapted for engagement with the unhinged edge of the panel on which said member is mounted, an arm extend 'ing angularly from saidbase member in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said base member, a first abutment surface on said arm projecting from a point adjacent the top of said ridge a predetermined distance substantially parallel to the plane of said base member, and a second abutment surface formed on said arm and extending at an'oblique angle a predetermined distance from said first abutment surface, said second and first abutments being adapted to successively engage the ridge on the oppositely mounted door aligner to bring said doors into substantial alignment in the closed position.

adapted to a spaced from and adapted to be secured to the free edge'of the panel, an arm formed on each member to extend rearwardly and transversely from the free edge of the panel, a first abutment surface formed on each of said arms in a plane panels to which the aligner is adapted to be secured, a second abutment surface formed on each of saidanms and extending at an oblique angle from said first abutment surface, said second and first abutment surfaces being adapted to successively engage the base member on the oppositely mounted aligner to progressively bring the aligners and the door panels to which they are secured into substantial alignment as the panels are closed.

4. The door aligners of claim 3 in which each base member is provided a raised ridge formed on one edge of said member and said second and first abutment surfaces being adapted to successively engage the ridge on the base member on the oppositely mounted aligner to progressively bring the aligners and the 'door panels to which they are secured into substantial alignment as the panels are closed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner.

parallel to the plane containing the free 6/1958 Nelson 16 -1 

1. A PAIR OF DOOR ALIGNERS FOR FOLDING DOORS ADAPTED TO BE OPPOSITELY MOUNTED ADJACENT THE UNHINGED EDGES OF ADJACENT DOOR PANELS TO ALIGN THE PANELS WHEN THE DOORS ARE CLOSED, COMPRISING: A BASE MEMBER FOR EACH ALIGNER, A RAISED RIDGE FORMED ON ONE EDGE OF SAID MEMBER, A FLANGE DEPENDING FROM SAID ONE EDGE OF SAID MEMBER ADAPTED FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE UNHINGED EDGE OF THE PANEL ON WHICH SAID MEMBER IS MOUNTED, AN ARM EXTENDING ANGULARLY FROM SAID BASE MEMBER IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF SAID BASE MEMBER, A FIRST ABUTMENT SURFACE ON SAID ARM PROJECTING FROM A POINT ADJACENT THE TOP OF SAID RIDGE A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF SAID BASE MEMBER, AND A SECOND ABUTMENT SURFACE FORMED ON SAID ARM AND EXTENDING AT AN OBLIQUE ANGLE A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM SAID FIRST ABUTMENT SURFACE, SAID SECOND AND FIRST ABUTMENTS BEING ADAPTED TO SUCCESSIVELY ANGAGE RIDGE ON THE OPPOSITELY MOUNTED DOOR ALIGNER TO BRING SAID DOORS INTO SUBSTANTIAL ALIGNMENT IN THE CLOSED POSITION. 